Jalen Hurts gave a fan a touchdown ball. What happened next led to a lawsuit.

First and goal from the New York Giants’ 10-yard line at MetLife Stadium. Jalen Hurts in the gun. Jason Kelce snaps the ball. Hurts takes off running, sneaks through a lane paved by a Kelce block, and dashes into the end zone for a touchdown.

The quarterback who led the Birds to a win that December 2022 game, and a Super Bowl at the end of the season, then handed the ball to a bearded fan in a Philadelphia Eagles jersey.

It should have been a memory for the ages. With that touchdown, Hurts became the first quarterback in NFL history to score 10 or more rushing touchdowns in two consecutive seasons. And Paul Hamilton, a lifelong Eagles fan, had the record-breaking game ball in his hands.

But the events that followed led Hamilton, 34, to shed his Eagles fandom and file a lawsuit accusing the Eagles, Giants, stadium security, New Jersey State Police, and others of assault, false imprisonment, and other charges.

After the touchdown celebration ended, various security, team, and NFL officials approached Hamilton and asked for the ball back, according to the lawsuit initially filed in 2023 in New Jersey state court. The officials told Hamilton that the Hall of Fame needed the ball, and he would break the law if he didn’t return it.

A representative from the Eagles, accompanied by two New Jersey State Police troopers, offered Hamilton an “alternative gift opportunity” in exchange for the ball, the suit says. Hamilton declined and decided to leave the stadium with his friend.

On the way out of MetLife, the suit says, security officers grabbed him from behind. They pinned Hamilton to a gate and radioed state police their location. Hamilton told a police officer that he was assaulted by security officers, according to the complaint.

The officers told Hamilton he was free to leave, but he was swarmed by about 10 New Jersey officers a few moments later, the suit says. Police escorted Hamilton to a gated area where he says he was detained and feared for his life. The fan was threatened with arrest if he didn’t return the ball.

An officer was told over the phone to let Hamilton go, a command that the fan overheard, the suit says, and he was released.

Hamilton left MetLife with the ball and emotional scars that required psychotherapy.

“He is so hurt by what happened and disappointed he’s not an Eagles fan anymore,” said Adam Thompson, Hamilton’s attorney.

The attorney for New Meadowlands Stadium Company and the Giants, and the attorney for New Jersey State Police, did not respond to requests for comment. The Eagles, who have been dismissed from the case, declined to comment.

The litigation is in discovery, which is set to continue through April, according to the court docket. Thompson said depositions of witnesses and officials from the teams, stadium, and NFL should begin soon.

Game balls are precious commodities in the NFL, which had penalized players for handing them out to fans or throwing them into the stands. But there is no policy that requires fans to return balls, an NFL official told The Athletic.

Touchdown balls can also be meaningful to players, leading to retrieval efforts.

Last year, a hyped-up A.J. Brown threw a touchdown ball into the stands only to realize seconds later that it was Tanner McKee’s first NFL touchdown throw.

“Dude no!!!!,” a miced-up McKee said on the side line when he learned the ball was gone.

But the wide receiver did good, offered a fan his jersey in return for the ball (“I got you,” the fan responded), and gave McKee his prized possession.

Thompson said Hamilton went through a roller coaster of emotions that day in MetLife.

“Fans have rights, fans have a voice, and fans should be respected by the game,” Thompson said.